Fuse for rifle grenades



July l5, 1930. D. L. wooDBERRY FUSE FOR RIFLE GRENADES Filed Sept. 20. 1926 gmx/nm D avi d .L -Wma :I her'rl AT ECE DAVD L. WOOIDBERRY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND FUSE FOR RIFLE GRENADES Application le. September 20, 1926.

Serial No. 136,663.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT F MARCH 3, 1883, AS AMENDED APRIL 30, 1928; 370 O. G. '757) v'ior application to a grenade withoutrpreliminary adjustments. Facility of manutacture and assembly has also been a guiding factor in the proposed design.

To these and other ends, my invention consists in the construction7 arrangement and combination of elements described here-V inafter and pointed out in the claims torma part ot this specification.

A. practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a-longitudinal section, partly in elevation, of the fuse assembled with a grenade body;

i Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detail View showing the -main portion of the fuse in longitudinal section.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference:

The fuse consists of a cylindrical body 5 provided at one end with a reduced portion 6 for receiving the Vfuse cord 7 which carries a thimble 8 in which is the detonating charge. The other end of the body is reduced in thickness andris provided with a threaded portion 9 for attachment of a clos* ing cap 10, and in order to preserve the tightness of the oint, the threads are treated with a water-prooiing compound in any approved manner. l/Vhen the cap is in place against the shoulder 11 its base is spaced as at 12-trom the extremity of the body for a purpose which will presently appear.

Grenades of this character are discharged from a specially constructed grenade gun having a separate discharge orifice for the bullet of the cartridge, the grenade being l propelled with the nose or fuse end foremost, or the same is discharged from a-service rile, in which instance the usual rod, not

shown, which 'enters the rifle barrel is attached to the base of the body. i

` ll/Tithin the sealed casing thus formed is the firing mechanism comprising theprimer 13 mounted in a tube 14: seated adjacent .the 55 cord use'7, and the striker 15 normally retained in the opposite end of the casing. The method oi" retaining the striker consists in forming on the body adjacent its end an inwardlyy projecting annular rib 16, which rib engages in a corresponding annular groove 17 in the Ystriker to positively hold the same in safe position. Upon discharging a grenade equipped with the fuse the i inertia of the striker will cause it to iron out the restraining rib 16 whichis free to y extend intoy the space 12 and the striker will ire the primer, the gases from which will vent through the openings 18 in the tube 14 into the casing.

Thile the cap 10 protects the striker Y against accidental releaser during storage and transportation there may be addition ally provided a pin 19 which is removed y before fusing the grenade and if necessary7 75 the opening thus uncovered may serve as a vent for the powder gases.

I claim: Y

A fuse including a body formed with an inwardly projecting annular rib, a cap threaded to the body to form a sealed casing and having its base spaced from the end of the body, a tube seated` Vin one end of theA body and provided with vents, a primer in the tube and a striker in the other end of the body formed with an annular groove for receiving the rib, and said striker protected by the cap.

DAVID L, WOODBERRY. 

